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Borgin
Mr Borgin was a wizard and the co-owner of Borgin and Burkes, a shop in Knockturn Alley which bought and sold objects of dark magic and other dangerous magical artefacts. Borgin seemed to operate the shop mostly by himself, and it is unknown what happened to his co-owner Caractacus Burke. Biography Early life Borgin and Burkes was established in 1863, but it is unknown whether Borgin was one of the founders of the shop, and, if not, when he started working there. From the 1920s to the 1940s, Caractacus Burke seemed to have been the one who handled business at the shop, as he bought Slytherin's locket from Merope Gaunt and was Tom Riddle 's employer until the latter left to pursue his own schemes c. 1947. 1990s In 1992, Lucius Malfoy came to Borgin and Burkes to sell him several dark objects and poisons, fearing that the Ministry of Magic would soon be investigating his mansion. Borgin seemed displeased that Malfoy did not want to buy anything, but tried to convince Malfoy's son Draco to buy the Hand of Glory. Once the Malfoys left, Borgin showed signs of disliking and resenting Malfoy, thinking that the objects Malfoy had brought him was only a small piece of what Malfoy was hiding in his mansion. In 1996, Draco Malfoy came to Borgin to reserve the Vanishing Cabinet, which he planned to use to smuggle Death Eaters into Hogwarts. He also asked for instructions on how to repair the other Vanishing Cabinet, located in Hogwarts. Borgin was not sure how this would be possible without having the cabinet with him, but became much more cooperative when Draco showed him his Dark Mark and threatened to send Fenrir Greyback on regular checks if he would not succeed. He also sold the Opal Necklace and Hand of Glory to Draco, the former being used in a failed attempt to assassinate Albus Dumbledore, and the latter being used in combination with Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder. Hermione Granger tried to trick Borgin into telling her what Draco had been doing inside the shop, but Borgin easily saw through it and threw her out of the shop. It is not known what happened to him after this, but it is possible that he was arrested and sent to Azkaban for the part he played in the safe transport of convicted Death Eaters into Hogwarts School, which lead to the demise of the revered Headmaster at the wand of Severus Snape. Physical appearance Borgin was a stooping man with oily hair. He would put on a pair of pince-nez when reading was required. Personality and traits Borgin was described as having a voice as oily as his hair. In the presence of important and intimidating customers, he would bow deep and flatter them. Only upon departure would he drop his oily manner and express and disdain with dark muttering. He was also very greedy and money-minded, as he was jubilant when Lucius Malfoy entered his shop, only to be disappointed that the man was selling instead of buying, with Borgin even swiping a coin back without Lucius or his son's noticing. Borgin could be intimidated easily by customers with powerful influence, as Draco Malfoy threatened him with the Dark Mark on his forearm and Fenrir Greyback, both of which led Borgin to cower to Draco's whims. However, when dealing with obviously less influential people, such as Hermione Granger, Borgin could be very cold and insolent, as he booted her out of his shop after she made a poor attempt to coax information from him. Borgin appeared to be a pure-blood supremacist, as he stated to Lucius that blood purity was as significant to him as ever (this incidentally suggests that he was a pure-blood wizard, or at least a half-blood clinging onto his wizard heritage). It is, of course, possible that Borgin was simply playing up his loyalty to pure-blood supremacy to endear himself to Malfoy and thus get a better deal out of him. Magical abilities and skills * Dark Arts: Borgin, being the proprietor of a shop devoted to dark magic, was highly knowledgeable of dark magical artefacts and cursed objects, such as the Hand of Glory and the Opal Necklace. His superior knowledge in this field heavily implied he was a highly competent Dark Wizard as well. * Magical repair: Borgin was very well-versed in repairing magical artefacts that cannot be simply be done with the Mending Charm, as with the instructions he gave to Draco, the young wizard managed to repair the Vanishing Cabinet, though it took about a full school year to do so, meaning he was certainly talented in this magical craft. Relationships Malfoy family As the Malfoy family was full of wealthy dark wizards, they carried many dealings with Borgin. In their presence, the shop owner would put on his sycophantic personality and flatter them at every situation possible. However, behind their backs, Borgin rather resented the patriarch Lucius Malfoy due to his haughtiness. When Lucius' son Draco Malfoy came to him for repairing the Vanishing Cabinet, the young wizard intimidated Borgin into unquestioned cooperation, all the while Borgin could barely hide his resentment, and even less his fear. Muggle-borns Borgin appeared to be a pure-blood supremacist, and as such, appeared to disdain muggle-borns. He was cold and insolent towards Hermione Granger when she visited his shop, though her poor attempt to coax information out of him was also quite insulting in return, which is most likely the reason why he booted her out. Behind the scenes * Mr Borgin was portrayed by Edward Tudor-Pole in the , but his scenes were cut. They were now included in the extended version. * In one of the deleted scenes in the , Borgin is seen taking back a coin from the stack when Lucius Malfoy isn't looking. * One of the deleted scenes shows Harry being noticed by Borgin. When he asks what Harry's doing in his shop, Harry quickly makes something up and then runs away. * In the video game adaptation of , Borgin owns the Lumos spellbook. * If Borgin truly founded the shop with Caractacus Burke in 1863, he would be at least 146 during 1992. While wizards have been known to live this long, it is unknown if he is was this ancient or if he became Burke's business partner well after the shop was already established and eventually put his name first, possibly after Burke's death. However he could also be a descendant of the original Borgin. Appearances * * * * * * * * * Notes and references de:Mr Borgin fr:Mr Barjow pl:Borgin Category:British individuals Category:Dark wizards Category:Death Eater allies Category:Males Category:Pure-blood supremacists Category:Shop owners